Greetings from Thailand. It has been a long time since I communicated with my MSIA family in Australia or in other countries. I was ordained as a Minister of Love and Light with MSIA at Prana in 1982. Life has been good and at age 68 I am very blessed to still be fulfilling my ministry doing humanitarian aid work and maintaining good health and vitality — well most of the time!!.
During the year 2000 I worked in East Timor with a major Australian aid agency as an Engineer rebuilding thousands of houses after the emergency in that country. An article about that experience appeared in the New Day Herald in January of 2001. Unfortunately it was during that time that my late wife Sylvia, who was also a Minister with MSIA, was diagnosed with cancer. Sylvia passed away in May 2002. I returned to my aid work and was posted to Afghanistan 3 months after Sylvia’s passing. I was employed by a major American aid agency and have been with them in several locations since then.

In mid 2004, after 21 months I had finished my projects in Kandahar, Afghanistan and transferred to Mazar-e-Sharif in the far north to build medical clinics, schools, roads and bridges. The north of Afghanistan is a fascinating place, steeped in history. Near Mazar is the ancient city of Balkh, one of the oldest cities in the world which was developed as a great seat of learning by Alexander the Great in 330 BC. The remains of the temples and the University are still very much evident in a compound which is surrounded by a huge mud wall several metres high and 5 metres thick. The compound itself is some 3 or 4 kilometres across. At that time the region was predominantly Buddhist and the remains of some old stupas can still be seen. This complex has never been excavated and the local kids dig around in the ruins finding all sorts of wonderful artefacts which can be purchased in small dingy shops under the ancient walls.
The city was destroyed by Ghengis Khan in the 1200’s.

In more recent years malaria became a problem because of the marshy nature of the area and the city was moved 30 kilometres to the East to the current Mazar-e-Sharif. There is still a very beautiful mosque in the town square of Balkh which was built in the 1600’s. Travelling in this area is like stepping back in time for hundreds or perhaps thousands of years. The people are subsistence farmers and still carry their goods to and from the city markets on donkeys and camels. They live in simple mud brick houses, draw their water from a well and till the land with simple wooden ploughs or by hand. Their dress is exactly as it would have been in those ancient times. I was often overwhelmed with emotion when I considered the fact that I was walking, driving or sitting beside roads that have been in that very location and used by these people since time began. The gates through the original city walls still stand and must be at least 2,500 years old.
In traditional manner it is not unusual to see a man riding his horse, small, powerful and sturdy horses, with adorned saddlery, the man sitting tall and proud with his flowing beard and clothes topped off with a colourful turban. Afghans are fiercely proud, highly principled, hospitable, friendly and courteous people and it was my privilege to work with many of them, to meet their families and be their guest in their homes and to share their food and hospitality.
East of Mazar are extensive fertile and well watered valleys which are highly productive in agriculture. There is much evidence of ancient Buddhism in this area which dates back for 2,500 years. I entered huge ancient temples that have been hacked out of solid rock inside mountains. Some of these temples were used by the Afghans as a fortress during the recent occupation by the Russians and unfortunately many of them have been damaged by bunker-penetrating Russian bombs.
One particular place of interest is where the entire top of a granite mountain has been shaped into a lotus flower some 50 metres across. On the crown of the lotus flower there is a 2 metre high rock pedestal and the old Moslem warrior who care takes the place explained that the Buddha stood on this pedestal overlooking the huge valley and, with outstretched arms declared the teachings to the people. Of course this place is 100% Islam but interestingly the children are still taught in their schools of their ancient heritage of Buddhism and Hinduism. A fascinating story and a fascinating area.
I finished my work in Afghanistan in early December 2004 and returned to my home in rural Thailand with the intention of putting my feet up, putting some time into writing my memoirs and settling gracefully into retirement mode. Not so!! It seems that the good Lord had different plans for this old bloke. On December 26th 2004 the tsunami destroyed much of the coastal areas of the Indian Ocean rim countries and I was immediately called back to work by 3 different agencies. I chose to go to Aceh in Sumatra, Indonesia with the same American agency that I had worked with in Afghanistan.
I have been working there ever since, based for the first 15 months in Meulaboh and then to Banda Aceh building thousands of good quality concrete and brick houses, medical clinics, temporary timber houses, roads, bridges and the likes. It has been a long and often very difficult and frustrating struggle but we have persevered and good progress is being made.
The situation in Aceh when we first went in there was cataclysmic. Entire villages and the total population had gone. Every house, community building or structure, roads, bridges and farms had disappeared or were flooded with salt water and were no longer useable. In many areas, as a result of the huge earthquake that preceded the tsunami, the land had subsided, sometimes as much as a metre so the sea had taken over, never to recede. Many, many farmers and city and rural residents lost their families, their land, their possessions and their livelihood. In places there were coconut palms